


a go-between

by grit



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, MoD Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-14 02:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18043430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grit/pseuds/grit
Summary: Grindelwald recognises Harry immediately, piercing gaze drawn to her scar. “The Boy Who Lived,” he says, eyes sparkling with glee. “I'd offer you tea, but sadly I haven't been able to procure a good cup for fifty-two years.”“Girl,” Ginny corrects sourly. “And we're not here for tea."





	a go-between

**Author's Note:**

> happy international women's day!

Ginny, more comfortable apparating than Harry will ever be, takes them as close to the prison as possible in a quick succession of jumps. The wards ripple around them as they cross over and she falls in step closely behind her partner, wand out, a ready curse on her lips for anyone who might dare attack them.

Harry stalks through the woods, waving carelessly at the shrub blocking their path. Nature bends to her will, tilting out of the way without protest. Her magic has long since protectively wrapped itself around Ginny, a welcome comfort when you're on the run in the middle of a war. Now the magic feels intense, raw and full of rage. It sets her on edge.

Ginny doesn't blame her. She knows what it feels like to be betrayed by the one man you trusted with your thoughts, your secrets, your life. Knows what it means to feel empty, after. It's funny how sudden everything falls apart when you're no longer useful.

It takes them hours to get there. They obliviate two guard patrols and avoid all others. Numengard towers over the tall pines and Ginny wonders what is older, the woods or the fortress. The scene is as unsettling as she imagined, drowning in bleakness and quiet, lonely to the bones. Numengard is a place where people walk in and only come out again in body bags and the magic residue is drenched in hopelessness. She shudders.

“Where is he?” Ginny asks bluntly, trailing after Harry, in a bit of a mood from the long walk and anxious to fill the eerie silence.

Harry turns around sharply, something feral in her gaze. She blinks it away, expression softening. “In wing three. Solitary confinement.”

Ginny frowns and crosses her arms. “Do you sense that, too?”

Harry grimaces. “No, he's an actual bloody tourist attraction. It's in the fliers. Fucking morons.” She takes a hesitant step forward and combs through her unruly black locks, scratching the back of her head, and the gesture is so _Harry_ she has to repress a smile. “ _Gin._ ”

“You know I don't agree with this,” she replies. “We don't need Dumbledore for this. For anything.”

Harry skips the steps between them and jumps straight into her arms. Ginny, startled but with reflexes cultivated by a childhood of dodging pranks, food and bludgers, catches her.

“You're heavy,” Ginny says drily as she gently lets her down. Harry grunts and wraps her arms around her, burying her face in the slope of her neck. 

“You're strong,” she mumbles.

“Let's leave, Harry. We can find another way to defeat –“

“No,” Harry interrupts, pulling back. “I have to do this. I know it's stupid and there's probably a million people I'd rather talk to, but Dumbledore is our last shot. We've got to find the last Horcrux. Vold – Tom – will not die as long as it exists. I need to know you've got my back, Gin. I can't do it without you, you know that.”

Ginny turns to rest her head on Harry's shoulder. “You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have questioned you. Not... not in the field.”

Harry squeezes her hands, and places a chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Ginny says, shrugs, and follows her up the stairs and through the gate.

The cell is fairly easy to find, even at night. It's the one with two guards stationed at front. 

Harry stuns them with a flick of her wrist. She hasn't needed a wand since she mastered all the Hallows. She hasn't been the same, either. On some days, Ginny worries if Harry’s losing touch with her humanity. But when she admitted that to her partner over a butterbeer, Harry just laughed and said that loving Ginny would be reason enough to choose humanity over power.

Seeing her like this, terrifying and beautiful, magic easily unlocking the cell door to the most notorious wizarding prison in the world, Ginny wonders if Harry ever got to choose.

They step inside. The prisoner is little more than a pile of bones and rags. It's hard to believe she's looking at a mass murderer. A twinge of pity jolts through her, but she squanders it.

Grindelwald recognises Harry immediately, piercing gaze drawn to her scar. “The Boy Who Lived,” he says, eyes sparkling with glee. “I'd offer you tea, but sadly I haven't been able to procure a good cup for fifty-two years.”

“Girl,” Ginny corrects sourly. “And we're not here for tea.”

He grins. “I like this one. She's got fire.”

Harry growls.

“Ah, I see. Well, I hoped you might have had a crush on the Riddle boy. That would have made for quite the Shakespearean tale,” Grindelwald rasps, propping himself upright against the wall. “I wonder who _made_ you. This so-called Dark Lord? Or Albus, who fancies himself a Light Lord?”

Ginny feels the shift in Harry's magic immediately.

“Why is it that you men think that every serious thing a woman does is the result of being in love with some man, or being misled by some man?” Harry asks quietly. 

Her hands are trembling furiously and Ginny reaches out to cup them in her own, throwing a defiant glare at Grindelwald. 

He chuckles darkly and leans forward, eyes blown wide in anticipation. “I see Albus was too soft to beat those disgusting delusions out of you.”

Harry's magic crackles audibly and settles over them with an angry cry. Then, suddenly, emptiness surrounds them. Ginny feels lightheaded, used to breathing Harry's magic as much as her own.

Harry has drawn her magic back in, keeping it confined to her skin. She crosses the room in a flash and drops low in a crouch to face Grindlewald at his level, shoving him roughly against the wall. He sputters and coughs, but the witch pays him no mind. Harry's hands cradle around his collar, and she punches him in the face. Once. Twice. Three times.

Ginny supposes it must feel rather cathartic. Merlin knows she wants to beat the shit out of the old coot herself.

“Where. Is. Dumbledore?” Harry grits through her teeth, pulling him closer.

Grindelwald's voice rattles as he tries to regain his composure. His bloodied teeth glint madly. Then he flicks his tongue over his lips. “Why do you think I would know?”

Ginny scoffs. “Don't play games with us, you miserable –”

Harry holds out her hand as a warning, so she shuts up.

“Because you're soul mates. And,” she tilts her head to where Ginny is standing, voice growing calmer as her magic stretches possessively over her partner, “we just _know._ ”

**Author's Note:**

>  _“Why is it that you men think that every serious thing a woman does is the result of being in love with some man, or being misled by some man?”_ is a quote from the TV show Rebellion.
> 
>  
> 
> [my beta](http://archiveofourown.org/users/justanothercatgirl) | [my server](https://discord.gg/mCgCjTK) | [the title](http://english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/ginsberg.html)
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! ♡


End file.
